Spirit of Adventure Inaugural Cruise live blog

[Host Sharon]

Well, after 5 or more changes of itinerary, date etc etc, the day is finally here. First hurdle today is will my driver turn up? Somehow in all the changes my transport fell off the system, which I only discovered last Thursday. Watch this space!

[Glenndale]

Sharon I'm sure we are all looking forward to getting all the low down on the latest ship.

Enjoy your holiday and check in here when you can 😁

[Host Hattie]

🤞 that your driver turns up, have a great time.

[Host Sharon]

The car arrived on the dot of 9am. A sleek new silver Mercedes. Georj introduced himself, gave me a bottle of water and loaded all my luggage and Weser off. Midway we had a comfort break and he bought me a coffee. We arrived four or so hours later- due to traffic issues. Once at Tilbury we joined the queue for the COVID test. Once that was clear, there was a oxygen check and I was cleared to board.

[Host Sharon]

Once on board a steward met us at the top of the gangway and took our hand luggage and escorted us to the cabin. We have a Deluxe twin cabin which is much the same as a standard twin but with a larger balcony and a walk-in wardrobe. Amenities include a shoehorn, clothes brush, blanket for the balcony kettle for teas and coffee is, large screen TV bath robe and slippers. There was a bottle of Balfour Champagne chilling with glasses and a plate of fruit plates and cutlery along with a large bottle of hand sanitiser. We each had a zipped pouch containing masks sanitiser and disposable gloves. It was so exciting to be back on board a ship. More later.

[Glenndale]

How many passengers are on board for this inaugural cruise? 

[Host Sharon]

9 hours ago, Glenndale said:

How many passengers are on board for this inaugural cruise? 

800 out of a possible 1000.

[Host Sharon]

We are sailing on a beautiful millpond otherwise called the North Sea heading north to Newcastle. Back to yesterday the mustard drill was at 5:30 pm. It was a little different and that all passengers were told to return to their cabins prior and watch a video on the TV. Then the general emergency alarm was sounded and everyone had to proceed to the muster station and check in and then leave. In theory this meant a one-way system but there was a lot of congestion on the stairways. As I am registered with a disability I had to wait in my cabin for a steward who then escorted me where I needed to go and also took me on deck to my lifeboat. After muster it was on deck for sailaway . We had a marching band and confetti and Captain Tanner was liberal in his use of the horn as we turned 180° and sailed down river.

[Glenndale]

What cabin are you in Sharon?

Would you post some pictures please? We will be cruising on her next year 🤞

[kersh]

Thanks Sharon. Looking forward to your next instalments. 

[Host Sharon]

For dinner everyone had been allocated a specific restaurant and time for the first night and onwards it is freedom. I had the Supper Club where we were seated on a table of 4. 6 is the max no. for the time being. The food was delicious with a lobster and shrimp starter, vegetarian maincourse and cheese and biscuits to finish. The entertainment varied throughout the meal with  singers duos and a pianist. After dinner my friend went to the show and I retreated to the cabin and watched it on my cabin TV was finishing the unpacking. I have rarely had so much space in a cabin and we have empty drawers to spare. This is because saga gave us a complimentary upgrade to a Deluxe twin with a walk-in wardrobe.

[Glenndale]

We have booked a deluxe twin on E deck for a cruise next year. Glad you’re enjoying it. 

We always enjoyed the Club lounge on Discovery listening to the resident singer.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Glenndale

[Host Sharon]

Today has been fairly relaxed. I woke early and went onto the balcony to watch the sunrise. It was really warm but a bit misty. We had breakfast in the grill. This is a buffet but the food is still being served to everyone. The decor is really bright and cheerful with primary colours. There were various talks on today including two port talks, A motivational speaker, and the orca team. We did various housekeeping tasks such as registering our credit cards, adjusting our tours et cetera. Lunch was on the deck in the Lido - a delicious fish & chips - lovely light crispy batter, washed down with a cider. 

[Host Sharon]

6 hours ago, Glenndale said:

What cabin are you in Sharon?

Would you post some pictures please? We will be cruising on her next year 🤞

Give me time. Newcastle tomorrow.

[Windsurfboy]

Such a nice thread,  can't wait for my turn on the ship

[Host Sharon]

Yesterday afternoon I went to the talk by orca to learn about any wildlife we might encounter. Then to the MDR for the solos tea. Tables were restricted to 4 or six people and tea was served on pretty cake stands. Unlike Discovery last year there was no champagne but it was a very social occasion. That left time for a short rest before dressing for our first formal night. After the tea we really weren’t very hungry so ate quite late. Again food was delicious beautiful lobster crab shrimp starter followed by some roast chicken and ice cream. Then I went to the show I will I will add the name of the star later because it escapes me at the moment but I have to say it was the best solo artist singer with small orchestra I can remember listening to on a cruise ship. 

[Jammy Bun]

Loving hearing your experiences.  Is there any way of avoiding sitting with others at mealtimes.  (Apart from room service!).   Are mealtimes regulated, or is there somewhere you can get something to eat at most times of the day?  

 

[Wacktle]

16 hours ago, Glenndale said:

We have booked a deluxe twin on E deck for a cruise next year. Glad you’re enjoying it. 

We always enjoyed the Club lounge on Discovery listening to the resident singer.

We've also got a deluxe on E deck for a Norway cruise next year. We accepted an upgrade (for a very small extra cost) having had our Fjords cruise cancelled in 2020 and 2021. I'm hoping the lifeboats don't intrude too much.

 

Thank you HostSharon for your reports. I'm looking forward to the next installments.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Wacktle
correction

[Glenndale]

24 minutes ago, Wacktle said:

We've also got a deluxe on E deck for a Norway cruise next year. We accepted an upgrade (for a very small extra cost) having had our Fjords cruise cancelled in 2020 and 2021. I'm hoping the lifeboats don't intrude too much.

We are doing Secrets of the Emerald Isles in E523, the cabin furthest from the lifeboats.

Apologies to Sharon for going slightly off topic but we are obviously excited to be sailing along with you and interested in your opinions and experiences on Adventure🙂

Edited July 28, 2021 by Glenndale

[Host Sharon]

12 hours ago, Jammy Bun said:

Loving hearing your experiences.  Is there any way of avoiding sitting with others at mealtimes.  (Apart from room service!).   Are mealtimes regulated, or is there somewhere you can get something to eat at most times of the day?  

 

Ask for table for 2. There are 4 restaurants plus the buffet. Lots of choice and all included.  Daytime eating places include the Grill (buffet), terrace, lido, MDR and snacks in the living room. Room service is free and in the evening you can order from the main menu.

[Host Sharon]

Today we arrived at 8 am in Newcastle. I was up early enough to watch the sail up the River Tyne. It was a bit grey and misty as we passed the old castle and Abby but by the time our tour left the Sun was shining. It was my first time in Newcastle and rather ambitiously I had booked two tours. The first was to Northumberland castles and coast including Alnwick. We had a few stops such as Saint Mary‘s Lighthouse and Alnwick Castle but largely it was a panoramic tour. Every tour was regarded as a bubble. We had to gel our hands on boarding and every time we got back on the coach. Masks were worn throughout but we still got given the butterscotch sweets as normal. We had very little time between tours so I grabbed A drink in the living room along with a small open sandwich before going to the gangway again for our Newcastle city tour. This was a complimentary tour. I hadn’t realised the ships be irth quite a long way from the city. It was very interesting, a sort of mixture of Liverpool and Porto. We had about half an hour free time by the millennium Bridge to wander. And take photographs. It was amazing seeing the kittiwakes nesting under the old bridge. The tour was comprehensive and quite long and at the end we had some time in hand so the driver took us to Tynemouth. Back on board for sale away at 5 pm we got a quick drink and went on deck as there was a fire tug standing by.. Captain Tanner  took Adventure a little more upriver to swing her before heading back out to sea. The fire tug lead us out and there was much blowing of horns and waving and shouting from the shore. Is adventure reached the sea the tug went off to one side and danced in spirals as we left. We changed for dinner and her drinks in the living room before going in to the main dining room for a delicious dinner of ,scallops, salad, Dover sole, apple pie and ice cream, and coffee with truffles. I am very tired so have come back to the cabin to prepare a bag for tomorrow and watch TV. It is a sea day as we round Scotland and there should be plenty of wildlife to watch.

[LEESRE]

Sailing on her in September this year and cannot wait. Is it easy to book the speciality restaurants

[Host Sharon]

41 minutes ago, LEESRE said:

Sailing on her in September this year and cannot wait. Is it easy to book the speciality restaurants

Yes, very easyj and all free.

[Prefdavid]

So enjoying travelling with you Sharon but will enjoy it so much more when we're really with you next May as by then you'll know all the best places on board and all the great things to do.

Shame you didn't go in to Alnwick Castle as the gardens there are fantastic but that's a full day trip on it's own.

[Host Sharon]

Sea day today as we sail non-stop from Newcastle round Scotland to Belfast. Sadly the weather has taken a turn for the worse and it’s grey damp chilly and misty. I went up to deck 14 to join the orca look out but there is no one there and I nearly got blown off my feet so I’m back in the cabin briefly to dump my coat and then go to the coffee chat at 11. A lot of people are complaining about having to do tours to go ashore but they should have known that before they boarded. Most people are understanding and accept the conditions just to be on a cruise again. Although it isn’t a normal cruise as before Covid saga are doing their best to make it as normal as possible. We still have to wear masks inside the ship and line dancing is the only dancing class available most things are now happening such as craft classes quizzes sports and so on. Regarding the cabin we now have washing lines in the showers ( missing from discovery) and the only thing I notice missing are binoculars, which I believe you can ask for. More later.